Yes I have sticks and stones on my altar mainly representing earth. I came by these when I was walking and I felt drawn to them or they looked particularly interesting. I have things on my altar representing things but normally I feel drawn to objects and what they would be used for e.g a glass ice cream dish from a charity shop servs as my chalice. My favourite piece of nature on my altar are my crystals because I think that they are very useful and pretty. I use them in divination and feel calm when I look at them. I have all things representing the elements on my altar, a god and goddess candle, my athame and my wand and anything else I need during ritual.

Basically my whole house is my alter. I have geo's and candles. I have a tiny morter and pedistal. I have sea shells and green plants and any wonderful item that catches my eye and "speaks" to my soul. Never be afraid to express your self, have fun and go wild!

I have seashells that I collected from various places in my travels...some are from the Gulf Coast, some from the Atlantic coast on Folly Beach Island, SC, and the Outer Banks, NC....I have them there, asthey remind me of the beauty of the places they came from, and I use themfor water and salt on my altar....My favorite natural gift, is a huge beautiful amethyst crystal that wasgiven to me as a gift, and wrapped carefully in sterling silver wire bya wonderful witch from Florida....that crystal is simply my favorite...I always let my tools 'talk' to me....somehow that just works best for me!My altar is a simple wooden table, with a cloth, that I change from seasonto season....with my Godess/God candles, shells, cauldron, offering bowls, andcenser. It can vary from day to day depending on what I'm doing. My altartools have their own special 'witch box' that they are kept in when notin use.

I wish someday to be like those who are wise. But for now I have one ritual which I perform at will

. I have a bowl of pure white sea shells, which I gathered with the help of my family, on a beach near my friends house last summer. In this bowl, I also have a starfish, which my 10 yr old son presented to me, on that same summer, with love and amazement in his eyes. I place them all on my kitchen windowsill, along with a bowl of pure white flowers, and I ask the Goddess, to be with me............. In ALL MY BEING. Blessed Be, and may gentle breezes be with you.

I've a seagull feather that I've found walking home one day from Sailing. My first year as a Wiccan found me picking up numerous feathers from everywhere that I walked. Mostly raven feathers, plus a few others like ducks, seagulls and hawks that I've come across.

There's also several seashells picked up from the beach and stones from numerous places, either found or bought. Two acorns I swear have materialized out of nowhere and pinecones.

I have collected treasures from nature since I was a small girl. I picked up rocks, sticks, moss, feathers, leaves, shells, flowers, and fossils on my journeys. I still do this, only I am more selective and more respectful towards the spirit of the place that I find theses gifts. I also am more careful about keeping these treasures. Often as a child I would leave my treasures outside and eventually left them behind after we moved. Nowadays, when I find something special, I thank the spirit of the place where I found it and I keep these gifts around me and include them in my magickal work.

Here are some of my most treasured objects.

I once found a half a soda-can sized piece of petrified wood behind my apartment complex in a construction zone. It was half buried in clay. Washed, it was smooth to the touch.

I have four smooth, round river stones. I use these in my crystal matrixes.

I find feathers outside and clean them of mites with soap and water and dress them with a tiny bit of cedar oil. With these, I decorate my dream catchers, instead of buying feathers at a hobby store.

I find fallen branches and sticks on my walks in the woods and create beautiful wands and staffs from them. I never cut a living tree except for a few leaves or flowers.

I found a partially fossilized mussel shell in a creek bed. It had fused together with two other shell-halves and one end was broken off making it perfect for holding a few herbs, a paper spell, or salt.

My wand is made of a twisted deadfall branch. It was worn and gray. I annointed it with oil and sanded it down. It is now a silky brown color and adorned with tiny amethysts and a quartz crystal.

As a novice, I feel that following my personal insticts is part of what I do, and the other half is to follow some of the books that I have read.. Cunningham, Ravenwolf, Starhawk, etc. Right now, I have stones that I have collected, shells that my children have given me, and the only items I could find in the house (my husband and I are both out of work) that are black and white to represent the Diety are my 2 beanie bears. Does it work for me? Yes, will it work for another, I am not sure. I do like having the shells there to focus on the ridges, and remind me to calm myself as I meditate. Thanks for having such an interesting web-site, and question for someone new to chime in on and be part of the collective. Catherine

When my Boyfriend first came to my house, he noted that 'every surface is an altar, ' and I had never really noticed it until then. Yes, we have seashells, rocks (people bring me rocks from their travels) crystals, sticks, pinecones, feathers, fossils from Canada and Pennsylvania. Neatest things? A branch of "Irish Bells" --dried branch of a flower someone gave me last St Pat's day; Two Birds from Walmart, made with styrafoam and feathers (Crow) , (Owl) ;'lighter-naught' wood that has been stuck by lightning. (I also have a lot of storebought things on the Altars.) The Main Altar faces East, and is Celtic themed. There's sage, lots of dried flowers, seashells, Feathers.Our Staffs of wood live in a tall basket behind the front door.I am working on another Altar, Floridian-Themed, on a door over two file cabinets in my Garage, also faces East. The Florida Altar has collections of tree findings from Florida (native and non-native species) ; vertabrea bones from a Florida fish; a dead roach, (This IS Florida!!!) and a bunch of Buzzard feathers in a container of Borax. (The bird was road kill; the feathers are being cleaned, will use somehow.) Oh, there's a wing of a small bird that the cats killed. I have to figure out what it is. It is in the Borax thing, too. And a snake skin, a guy I work with killed a little corn snake in his house, brought it into work, and I took it and cleaned it (more Boxax, ) and plan to use it to wrap a wand. {I use the drawers of the file cabinets to store Sage, and other stuff. {This Altar is where I make and prepare magiacl things, and arts-and-crafts projects.) Some of the Altars have posters or things hung on the walls above the surface.Back in the House, another Altar (faces West) is composed of photographs of my family members, and a wooden boomerang my father brought back from Australia; on that is a seashell holding other seashells on there, and driftwood. Another Altar on the West wall, is a shelf above a small desk. It has lots of things dear to me, bells, my wands (one is a Mangrove shoot that is over 1ft long, found in the Caloosahatchee river, ) and more feathers. I also have a container of Sand from the local beaches. (This came in handy when my daughter started a FIRE in her ALtar in Her Room; luckily I had enough sand to put the FLAMES out, and she burried that in the backyard. My Boyfriend has two Altars, they both face North. I have another Altar (West) on a book shelf with things I collected when I lived in Spain (Seashells and rocks) 30 years ago.I have been collecting rocks and feathers ever since I can remember, becasue that is what my Mother taught me to do. (The coolest thing she ever found was an abandonded hornet's nest, it was as large as your Head. She entered it in a 4H contest, and won a ribbon! I find that by putting things in different locations, it helps me remember where they came from. Most of these things are decorative, or to be used for future projects. I tend to do most of my Magick outside.

Unfortunately this post is going to be buried in this thread. Those of you that have made it this far need to be aware of the consequences of taking feathers. Some states have fairly draconian laws about this. It is always better not to take a feather. The following is a synopsis of the federal protection legislation. This applies to a large number of birds. Even Ravens migrate. Please, please, please be careful -- say a prayer and leave the feather where you found it!

--------------------------------------Migratory Bird Treaty Act

This Act, officially passed in 1918, provides federal protection for migratory birds. Under the Act it is unlawful to take, import, export, possess, buy, sell, purchase, or barter any migratory bird. Feathers or other parts, nests, eggs, and products made from migratory birds are also covered by the Act. Take is defined as pursuing, hunting, shooting, poisoning, wounding, killing, capturing, trapping, or collecting.

Exceptions

Migratory bird hunting regulations, established by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, allow the taking, during designated seasons, of ducks, geese, doves, rail, wood***, and some other species. In addition, permits may be granted for various non-commercial activities involving migratory birds and some commercial activities involving captive-bred migratory birds.

Penalties

Individuals or organizations may be fined up to $5, 000 and $10, 000, respectively, and may face up to six months imprisonment for misdemeanor violations of the Act. Felony violations may result in fines of up to $250, 000 for individuals. $500, 000 for organizations, and up to two years imprisonment.

States Rights

States and Territories, by suitable legislation, are not prevented from making or enforcing laws or regulations which give further protection to migratory birds, their nests, and eggs within their respective borders. The provisions of the Act apply equally to Federal and non-Federal entities. ---------------------------------

See what I mean? There are other ways of honoring the element of air, your totem animal, spirit birds, and the associations with things that fly. This may sound like an animal rights thing, but I'm _not_ coming from that angle. Being responsible means following our laws.

Thank you for your time. Bright blessings and may wild birds bring you joy.

Now that I think about it, I do have an altar. Never even considered it before until I saw the question. I have a flat smooth rounded rock (sedimentary) that is about 4 inches round. On it, over time, I have placed: an bears claw (for strength, given to me by a First Nations youth I worked with) , a small jade malamute (my totem spirit) , a pewter feather (for flight) , a small jade apple (knowledge) , a small fragment of pea*** ore (irredescent, for beauty and the mysteries) and a small "fun" flower (symbolic of my era's "ideological/philosophical" bend) . My altar sits on my desk hutch and is surrounded by rocks, shells, candles and parts of a collection of dragon figurines. I would have to say that rocks, especially crystals, are my most favourite "tool" from nature. Have always been fascinated and drawn to the "bones of Mother Earth."

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